Trump Organization executive vice president Eric Trump condemned the ruling from New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron finding his company and members of his family liable for over $350 million in a civil fraud suit Friday.
Trump said his father, former President Donald Trump, revitalized and rebuilt much of New York City’s skyline, as the city fell on hard times in the 1980s and 90s.
“My father built the skyline of New York City: And this is the thanks he gets for doing absolutely nothing wrong.”
In one of the more noted instances, the elder Trump partnered with Hyatt Hotels in 1976 to revamp the ailing Commodore next to Grand Central Terminal.
He also feuded with then-Mayor Ed Koch in the 1980s over major projects like Wollman Rink in Central Park, leading the Democrat to claim he wouldn’t “believe Donald if his tongue was notarized” and Trump quipping Koch’s mayorship was unique in being both “corrupt and incompetent.”
On “The Ingraham Angle,” Eric Trump called his case “rigged,” claiming the suit filed by New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James should have gone via the court’s commercial division, which he surmised would have discluded Engoron.
Here’s the latest coverage of Donald Trump’s $355M civil fraud trial ruling
“The best thing I ever did was get out of New York,” said Trump, who has since relocated to Jupiter, Fla.
He called the state and city a “hopeless place” and condemning Engoron for prejudging the Trump family before the trial officially started.
“It was a setup from the very beginning… [Engoron]; the animosity; the way he looked at my father in the courthouse was horrible. I’ve never seen such hatred in anybody’s eyes before.”
Trump, who is also president of Trump Winery in Virginia, underlined that the banks who had underwritten the millions of dollars in loans scrutinized by James and Engoron never claimed to be a victim of Donald Trump’s purportedly skewed property valuations.
He said German financial titan Deutsche Bank asserted the Trumps paid their debts on time and the institution made millions in revenue from his family’s business.
“Every single [bank] has called us a platinum borrower; again, never [had] a default,” he said, noting the real issue is with James, who pledged to be a “real pain in his a–” to the then-president.
“We didn’t have a chance,” he said.
Trump further stated when the same New York officials locked-down the state during COVID-19, the Trump Organization made sure all of its employees were taken care of as the hospitality industry ground to a halt.
“Guess who paid all of their employees? Guess who always did the right thing? Guess who employs thousands of New Yorkers every single day; puts food on the table for their families…” he said.
